“Gone Away” by The Offspring is a powerful and emotional track that stands out from their usual punk rock. Featured on their iconic album Smash, the song is a somber, piano-driven ballad about profound loss and grief. Unlike their more rebellious anthems, Dexter Holland’s vocals capture the universal pain of missing someone you can’t get […]
A short song with an outer-spacey vibe. The music makes me think of an interplanetary traveler who longs for their home back on Earth.
The origins of the nursery rhyme “Itsy Bitsy Spider” can be traced back to early 20th-century America. The song is believed to have originated in the United States and has since become a popular children’s rhyme with a catchy melody. The lyrics tell the story of a determined little spider who climbs up a waterspout […]
An original piano/instrumental song. Somehow it reminds me of the last days of spring, a bittersweet farewell to the end of the early blooms. Can the rose of summer fade, The bright and blooming rose? Shall winter sweep the glade, Where its tender beauty blows? There is perfume in the air, And it steals from […]
Crafted in 1857 by John Henry Hopkins, Jr., “We Three Kings” stands as a perennial ode to the Nativity story, drawing inspiration from the biblical account in Matthew 2, where visitors from the East present gifts to the newborn Jesus. While the Bible does not specify their number or title them as “kings,” Hopkins introduced […]
Jesse Lee Smith created this lovely (re)arrangement of Away in a Manger. I thought it was delightful, and wanted to share! BirdBox Productions · Away In The Manger
This past summer, a wonderful violinist in Ukraine named Albina Pasichnyk recorded a cover of my song “Be Still My Soul: Elegy” for her new album. There were complications due to the war, and she had to travel quite a distance across the border to Poland to record it, and I’m thankful she did so. […]
I received a lovely recording of one of my songs, “I Need Thee Every Hour,” adapted as a vocal arrangement. This amazing, beautiful performance is by Katherine Wallace. I absolutely love it!
Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas” in the early 1940s, reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. Bing Crosby made this song famous, and his single has been credited with selling 50 million copies, the most by any release. Even the Guinness Book of World Records lists Crosby’s song as a 100-million seller, encompassing all versions of […]
“Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker,” translated as “My Heart Always Wanders,” is a Scandinavian Christmas song. Originally written and published by Danish pietist bishop Hans Adolph Brorson in his song booklet Nøgle Jule-Psalmer (New Christmas Hymns) in 1732, the lyrics have been set to a number of tunes over the centuries, with the most well-known modern […]
I built a radio streaming site a couple years ago (https://pianoradio.org) and I’ve recently added some new features to it. True, the Internet really doesn’t need another radio streaming site. That fad ended about 10-15 years ago when streaming services like Spotify took over. However, I use Piano Radio quite a bit myself because it […]
Two of my songs placed in the top 3 in the annual sheet music contest at sacredsheetmusic.org! I Need Thee Every Hour/How Great Thou Art (2nd place) and Mary’s Boy Child (3rd place).
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” was introduced in 1944 by Judy Garland in the musical Meet Me in St. Louis, “a love of a film” as one critic put it. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics, which has become more common than the original. The song was credited to Hugh Martin […]
The vocal part of this recording is performed by Shawna Anderson Norton. The text to “O Come All Ye Faithful” was originally written in Latin (“Adeste Fideles”) and is attributed to John Francis Wade, an 18th-century hymnist. It was first published in a collection known as “Cantus Diversi” in 1751. The original four verses of […]
In 2012 I recorded a piano/flute arrangement of The First Noel, which is one of my personal favorites. But before that, in 2011, I made this other recording of “The First Noel.” It was an abandoned work-in-progress which I haven’t shared until now.
This is one of the first songs I ever made, back in 1997. My parents had recently bought me an Alesis keyboard (which I still have), and some notation software. I’d been experimenting with the software, learning it, and enjoying being able to hear the different instruments through the Windows 95 MIDI synth. And I […]
This song was made with a good friend back in the summer of 1998. We were messing around with Impulse Tracker, a software relic used to create digital multi-track music. You’d gather together short sound samples, create loop points so you could play a note indefinitely, and then key in notes and modulation data to […]
My arrangement of Dives and Lazarus / A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief took 1st place in a contest over at sacredsheetmusic.org! Be Still, My Soul: Elegy didn’t do so bad, either.
This is a piano/instrumental cover of “Hold Me Now” by RED. Having someone there for you, when you feel there’s no way out, can be the greatest help of all. It may be a family member, a friend, a teacher, a counselor, a therapist, a higher power, or even an unexpected stranger. No one has […]
This is a piano cover of “Shiroyama” by Sabaton, a song about the Battle of Shiroyama which took place on September 24, 1877 in Kagoshima, Japan. It was the final battle of the Satsuma Rebellion, where the heavily outnumbered samurai under Saigō Takamori made their last stand against Imperial Japanese Army troops, commanded by General Yamagata Aritomo and Admiral Kawamura Sumiyoshi. The battle culminated in the annihilation of Saigō […]
I spent an afternoon making this in 1998, and it was meant to be a short, sappy background love song. Nothing’s been changed in the score, just some remastering of the audio quality.
This is an improvisation recorded on January 9, 2008. This song reminds me of a childhood memory, and an old music box my grandma had. A ballerina twirled around when you opened it. It’s been so long that I don’t remember which song it was anymore, but somehow the melody of this improvisation strikes a […]
I love the beautiful and soft touch Camille Rich gives to her performance of the My Heavenly Father Loves Me / Teach Me to Walk in the Light medley. Make sure to check out her YouTube channel for more beautiful performances. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgklaA5LlkLW_m4Nr7pO8Fw
This instrumental arrangement came while I was thinking about all those we’ve lost to COVID and other causes the past year. This is a tribute to those people we’ve personally known, and all those we didn’t and now will never have the chance to. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, Germany was predominantly Lutheran […]
The title of this song is a reference to the poem “The Banks O’ Doon” by Robert Burns (1791). The river Doon crosses near Burns’ hometown of Ayr, but the context behind the poem is actually from the story of Margaret “Peggy” Kennedy. Peggy was a 17 year-old girl betrothed to a Member of Parliament, […]
This song and recording is from November 29, 2005. There’s another variation on the theme as well.
Awhile ago a friend sent me this awesome video of I Need Thee Every Hour / How Great Thou Art by Caleb Spjute. For years Caleb has posted a weekly (and often more frequent) sacred music recording on YouTube. The other members of his family often get involved, too. Make sure you check out his YouTube channel. Anyone who can play La Campanella as well as he does has my respect and awe!
I’m happy to announce my second Christmas album, Moon of Wintertime is now available on Spotify and other streaming services. You can also download it for free on the Albums page. 2020 was the first time I’d written any music in 5 years, and if I were to have a New Year’s resolution, it would […]
Cynthia is both a digital and real-life nomad from France who moved to the U.S. and travels across the country looking for new adventures. She shared this lovely performance of The First Noel on her YouTube channel.
Check out her Colors of a Bird site where she shares her poetry, thoughts, and experiences as she travels the country.
Jessie Black made this beautiful and emotive recording of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. Check out her other Christmas music videos she’s posted, as well as her original compositions. You’ll be very pleased.
“Once Upon a December” is a song from the 1997 animated film Anastasia, a story about the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, and the rumors surrounding her purported escape from Communist revolutionaries in 1918 who executed the rest of the Romanov royal family. Inspired by the 1952 play and […]
Written by Chris de Burgh in 1975, “A Spaceman Came Travelling” topped the Irish charts a year after it was released. But it wasn’t until 1986 with De Burgh’s success of “The Lady in Red” that the UK took notice and it reached the top charts there, too. The idea for the song came to de […]
Written by John Rox and recorded by 10 year-old Gayla Peevey in 1953, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” was an instant hit. After Peevey performed the song on the Ed Sullivan Show, a local promoter launched a fundraising campaign to gift Peevey a real hippopotamus. On Christmas day 1953, Gayla was presented with a […]
The words to “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” are a translation of the Catholic Latin text “Veni, veni, Emmanuel” by John Mason Neale in the mid-19th century. Their origins are very old indeed, and may date as far back as the 12th century. They were of such importance in medieval days that in monasteries a […]
Generally considered the first Canadian Christmas carol, “‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime” was written in 1640 by a Jesuit priest, Jean de Brébeuf. He set the song to a French folk tune, “Une Jeune Pucelle.” Brébeuf was ministering to the Huron natives in Ontario, and created a song in their language that used symbols […]
Thousands of American men and women were serving overseas in 1943 when the world was at war, and they would be spending Christmas far from home. As a tribute to these heroes, Kim Gannon and Walter Kent created this lovely ballad, and Bing Crosby recorded it. The song’s spirit and message touched the hearts of […]
“Mary’s Boy Child” was written by singer, composer, conductor, and actor Jester Hairston in 1956. Hairston, a grandson of American slaves, dedicated himself to preserving African-American Spirituals and their rich history. After Hairston wrote the song, Harry Belafonte made the first recording which topped the charts for nine weeks in 1957. Others have released their […]
“Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” was written by Randy Brooks, and originally performed by husband-and-wife duo Elmo and Patsy Trigg Shropshire in 1979. Brooks played the song while he was performing with Elmo and Patsy at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe in December 1978. After the show, Elmo and Patsy requested a cassette of […]
The tune to “Dives and Lazarus” is used in many folk songs throughout western Europe, including “Gilderoy” and “Crooked Jack” in Scotland, “The Star of the Country Down” in Ireland, and “The Unquiet Grave” in England. Ralph Vaughan Williams arranged the tune in his composition Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus for the 1939 World’s […]
First published in 1861 by Joshua Sylvester in A Garland of Christmas Carols, the lyrics to “The Holly and the Ivy” are centuries old. The symbols predate Christianity and were likely altered to represent the symbols of Jesus, Mary, and His blood, crown of thorns, and crucifixion. The adapted meaning of the holly and ivy are a […]
May 23, 2023 – I received a lovely recording of the “I Need Thee Every Hour” part of this medley, adapted as a vocal arrangement. This amazing, beautiful performance is by Katherine Wallace. I absolutely love it! May 17, 2024 – I found a piano tutorial someone created of this arrangement. It’s much appreciated!
“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” was composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in the early 1700s, as part of the final movement of the Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben cantata (“Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life”). The original German lyrics differ quite a bit from the traditional English lyrics, and strongly focus on […]
The Wenceslas of the song “Good King Wenceslas” wasn’t a king, but actually the Duke of Bohemia who lived in the 10th century. He was reputable as a good, kind, honest, and morally upright man. The carol is about Wenceslas and his page going out giving alms to a poor peasant in bitter cold weather […]
The 2004 film The Polar Express is based on the 1985 children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. It is a story of a young boy who no longer believes in Christmas. A train going to the North Pole appears outside his house, and he boards it at the request of the […]
“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” originates from the Polish carol “W zlobie lezy” (“He Lies in the Cradle”). In 1908, the carol was published in a book of Polish carols. 13 years later, Edith Margaret Reed wrote English-language lyrics for the song, and came up with the title “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly.” The carol reflects on […]
It’s difficult to know just how old “The First Noel” is. The song (at least the words) is thought to be of Cornish origin, and may date back as early as the 13th or 14th century. During this time, miracle plays and mystery plays — dramatic productions of Catholic saints and biblical stories — were […]
Legend says that at the stroke of midnight on the evening when Jesus was born every bell on the earth began ringing joyously together. It is said there was never a sound quite like it. The song “Carol of the Bells” probably comes from that legend. Traditionally, the song starts out soft and gets progressively […]
“As With Gladness Men of Old” was written by William Chatterton Dix. He wrote it on the day of the Epiphany in 1858, while sick in bed. During this time, he read the story of the wise men in the Bible and pondered how he could give the story meaning in his own life. For […]
“Joseph’s Lullaby” is a song by the Christian rock band MercyMe that gives us a glimpse of how Joseph may have viewed the birth of his new son. The touching lyrics foreshadow the eventual ministry and atonement of the Savior, but gently reminds us that Joseph was also simply a father who loved his newborn […]
“There’s a Song in the Air” is both a Christmas carol and Methodist hymn. The lyrics were written by Josiah G. Holland, a very popular poet and novelist in the post-Civil War era and late 19th century. The words paint a picture of the different elements of the Nativity, and recognize Jesus as King. The […]
John Jacob Niles was traveling through a raucous revivalist meeting in North Carolina on July 16, 1933. A group was about to begin street preaching, when a girl stepped out of the entourage. She was unkempt and ragged, but once she started singing she had a beautiful voice. She smiled as she sang a single […]
Many fathers dress up in red suits and white beards around Christmastime and bring joy and laughter to their children. But what happens when the children creep down from their bedroom late at night and catch “Santa” off guard? The song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” was written by Tommie Connor in 1952, with […]
“In the Bleak Midwinter” is based on a poem by Christina Rossetti, written around 1872. The evocative lyrics paint a picture of the Nativity in a snowy Northern landscape. The text of this Christmas poem has been set to music many times, the most famous settings being composed by Gustav Holst and Harold Edwin Darke […]
“Walking in the Air” is the only vocalization of the wordless 1982 animated film The Snowman, which is based on Raymond Briggs’ children’s book of the same name. The film is about the adventures of a young boy, who builds a snowman on Christmas Eve. The snowman comes to life, and the two fly to […]
Edmund Hamilton Sears was a young Unitarian minister living in Massachusetts when he penned the poem “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” in 1849. It was published that year in the Christian Register magazine in Boston. The following year, Richard Storrs Willis, an editor and critic for the New York Tribune as well as an […]
“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” is an old carol sung by the waits, the municipal watchmen of old England. The waits were licensed to perform the duty of singing seasonal songs to the gentry, or the upper-class citizens. The author of the carol is unknown. The song was first published in 1827 as an “ancient […]
Alan Menken, the acclaimed composer behind many of Disney’s films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Enchanted and most recently Tangled, wrote this song, “God Bless Us, Everyone” for his 1994 musical based on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Lyrics were done by Lynn Ahrens, and the book by […]
The music and lyrics to “Candlelight Carol” were written by the English choral composer and conductor John Rutter in 1984, and was first recorded by Rutter’s own group, the Cambridge Singers on their 1987 album Christmas Night. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Neil Diamond, Joseph McManners, Aled Jones, and several […]
Adolphe Charles Adam was an accomplished composer for opera, theatre, and ballet, and a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire. At the age of 27, in 1830, he had completed nearly 30 theatre productions. “Cantique de Noël,” translated to English as “O Holy Night” is one of his most famous works, done in collaboration with Adam’s […]
“Pachelbel’s Canon,” also known as “Canon in D Major” is by Johann Pachelbel, a German composer from the Baroque era. Like most other works by Pachelbel and other pre-1700 composers, the Canon remained forgotten for centuries and was rediscovered only in the 20th century. Several decades after it was first published in 1919 by Gustav […]
“Little Drummer Boy,” originally titled “Carol of the Drum,” is based on a traditional Czech carol. In 1957, Henry Onorati arranged the song for a recording by the Jack Halloran Singers, but it was not released in time for Christmas. The next year, Harry Simeone was looking for material to create a Christmas album, and […]
In 1887, James R. Murray published this verse and called it “Luther’s Cradle Hymn, composed by Martin Luther for his children, and still sung by German mothers to their little ones.” Incidentally, Martin Luther, the famous father of the Reformation, was not the author, nor was Murray. The origin is a children’s Sunday school book […]
This song, originally called “Christmas, Why Can’t I Find You,” was written by James Horner for the 2000 movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was first performed by Taylor Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who in the movie. A different version was later co-written by James Horner, Will Jennings and Mariah Carey, where it […]
The melodically captivating song “Were You There on That Christmas Night?” was written by Natalie Sleeth in 1976. Sleeth was an accomplished composer who received an Academic major in music and a BA in music theory at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She married a Professor of Homiletics, Reverend Ronald E. Sleeth, and was a member […]
“You’re A Mean One, Mister Grinch” was originally written and composed for the 1966 cartoon special How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The lyrics were written by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, the music was composed by Albert Hague, and the song was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft. The song’s lyrics describe the Grinch as being foul, bad-mannered […]
“Santa Baby” was written in 1953 by Joan Javits and Philip Springer. The song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list sung by a woman who wants the most extravagant gifts like sable, yachts and decorations from Tiffany’s. “Santa Baby” was originally sung and recorded in 1953 by Eartha Kitt. The song was a […]
“What Child Is This?” was written by William Chatterton Dix in 1865. At the age of 29, William was struck with a sudden near-fatal illness and confined to bedrest for several months, during which he went into a deep depression. Yet out of his near-death experience, Dix wrote many hymns, including “What Child Is This?” […]
There are many songs by the name “Mary’s Lullaby,” but this particular one comes from the Children’s Primary songbook, used by the LDS Church. It is based on an old German folk tune, and is a simple sweet lullaby to the Christ child. The words were written by Jan Underwood Pinborough in 1989, with the […]
“Do You Hear What I Hear?” was written in October 1962 with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne Baker. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of different artists. Regney was inspired to write the lyrics “Said the night wind to the little lamb, ‘Do […]
“Still, Still, Still” is an old Austrian tune, first known as the “Salzburg Melody.” The song was written around 1819. Not much more is known about it beyond that, and the original author has since been lost in time. Lyrics Still, still, still,One can hear the falling snow.For all is hushed,The world is sleeping,Holy Star […]
The lyrics to “Mary, Did You Know?” were written by Mark Lowry in 1984, and the music was written by Buddy Greene six years later. The song has been recorded by many diverse artists, but Mark Lowry recorded his own version of the song on three of his albums. The first recording was on his […]
“The Christmas Song,” also know as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” was composed by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells in 1944, incidentally during a hot summer. The most popular recording of this song was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946. The descriptive language of the song is poignant and something anyone can identify […]
“It’s practically the only song about Christmas in a big city, with department store lights, window displays, shoppers and all the rest,” said Ray Evans, describing the song he and Jay Livingston wrote in 1950. At the time the two were under contract to Paramount and were assigned to write a Christmas song for The […]
Recorded in June 2009 after my wonderful and amazing daughter Bella was born.
Gone Away September 23, 2025
Pachelbel’s Starship July 1, 2024
Dreams of Terra June 10, 2024
Little Spider May 29, 2024
New Sheet Music: Mary, Did You Know? April 4, 2024
New Sheet Music: Little Drummer Boy March 28, 2024
New Sheet Music: There’s a Song in the Air March 27, 2024
A Fading Blossom March 3, 2024
We Three Kings December 8, 2023
Away in the Manger, by Jesse Lee Smith November 22, 2023
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